MPs’ business costs

Tom Tugendhat

IPSA paid £2,184,622 against 1,032 published rows for Tom Tugendhat between 2015-16 and 2025-26 as the member for Tonbridge and Malling CC, then Tonbridge CC. These are the costs of running an office and employing staff under IPSA’s rules. They are not salary, and the largest part of them is wages IPSA pays to the member’s employees rather than money the member receives.

By category, 2016-17

142 claims, £161,212 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

Category	What it covers	Claims	Paid	Share
Staffing	The salaries and employment costs of the people an MP employs to run their office and casework. IPSA pays these directly; they are not money an MP receives.	70	£134,516	83.4%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	64	£16,710	10.4%
Accommodation	The cost of somewhere to stay for an MP whose constituency is far enough from Westminster that IPSA's rules allow it. An MP representing a London seat is not eligible on the same terms.	7	£5,426	3.4%
Travel	Journeys between the constituency and Westminster and within the constituency. Until 2018-19 IPSA published one travel category; from 2019-20 it publishes travel by the MP, by staff and by a dependant separately.	1	£4,559	2.8%

Every year in the register

Tom Tugendhat’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2015-16 and the last is 2025-26. Figures are not adjusted for inflation, so a rise between two distant years is partly a rise in prices. Select a year to read it on its own.

Year	Claims	Staffing	Office costs	Accommodation	Travel	Starting up and winding up	Miscellaneous	Total
2015-16	67	£107,268	£11,436	£15,063	£2,728	£5,989	—	£142,484
2016-17	142	£134,516	£16,710	£5,426	£4,559	—	—	£161,212
2017-18	123	£125,448	£16,474	£23,264	£5,421	—	—	£170,606
2018-19	104	£136,070	£20,275	£23,017	£5,395	—	—	£184,757
2019-20	108	£155,112	£24,706	£26,227	£4,459	—	—	£210,505
2020-21	101	£176,600	£22,325	£20,975	£831	—	—	£220,732
2021-22	64	£189,908	£20,602	£25,375	—	—	£8,314	£244,199
2022-23	75	£201,694	£12,506	£28,800	£2,739	—	£19,425	£265,163
2023-24	87	£211,172	£25,975	£30,790	£6,192	—	—	£274,129
2024-25	99	£224,204	£24,770	£33,296	£4,943	—	—	£287,214
2025-26	62	—	£20,516	£3,105	—	—	—	£23,621

A year in which Tom Tugendhat joined or left the House part-way through is a part year, and is not comparable with a full one.

What each category is made of, 2016-17

The cost types IPSA records inside each heading, largest first by what it paid.

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£133,687
Public Tr RAIL Volunteer - RT	22	£564
Food & Drink Volunteer	30	£139
Public Tr UND Volunteer	13	£83
Public Tr RAIL Volunteer - SG	3	£30
Staff Training Costs	1	£14

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Const Office Rent	13	£4,500
Business Rates	2	£3,040
Professional Services: Direct	1	£2,669
Stationery Purchase	10	£1,493
Computer HW Purchase	1	£931
Computer SW Purchase	2	£924

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Accommodation Rent	1	£3,649
Other Fuel	2	£1,180
Council Tax	1	£470
Electricity	1	£63
Telephone Usage/Rental	1	£39
Water	1	£25

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Aggregated Travel Costs	1	£4,559

Largest claims, 2016-17

The 15 rows IPSA paid most against, with IPSA’s own description of each. Read the description before the amount: IPSA publishes most of a member’s staffing as one row for the whole year — “Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the ⟨year⟩ year” — so the largest row here is usually a year of wages for the member’s employees and not something bought.

Date	Category	Cost type	Description	Claimed	Paid
31 March 2017	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2016-17 year	£133,687	£133,687
31 March 2017	Travel	Aggregated Travel Costs	Aggregated figure for travel during 2016-17	£4,559	£4,559
1 January 2017	Accommodation	Accommodation Rent	Rent on constituency home	£3,649	£3,649
14 April 2016	Office Costs	Professional Services: Direct	PRU	£2,669	£2,669
19 April 2016	Office Costs	Business Rates	Business rates	£1,549	£1,549
21 March 2017	Office Costs	Business Rates	Business rates	£1,491	£1,491
21 October 2016	Office Costs	Computer HW Purchase	Hardware	£931	£931
14 April 2016	Office Costs	Computer SW Purchase	PRU	£900	£900
10 February 2017	Accommodation	Other Fuel	Constituency home - energy	£688	£688
3 February 2017	Accommodation	Other Fuel	Fuel oil	£492	£492
5 January 2017	Office Costs	Stationery Purchase	Office costs	£488	£488
27 January 2017	Accommodation	Council Tax	Accommodation costs	£470	£470
25 January 2017	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£375	£375
20 December 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£375	£375
25 November 2016	Office Costs	Const Office Rent	—	£375	£375

What this page does not show

Whether any of it was justified. IPSA accepted these claims under its own rules and the register records what was paid, not whether it should have been. A large total is not a finding about the member.

Nor how Tom Tugendhat compares with another member. After staffing the largest headings are accommodation and travel, and both are decided mostly by where a constituency is: a member several hundred miles from Westminster is eligible for costs a member with a London seat is not. Two members’ totals are two sets of rules as much as two sets of choices, and the length of service differs too.

It is also not pay. IPSA sets and publishes MPs’ salaries separately and they are not in this register; the staffing figure here is the salaries of the member’s employees.

All MPs’ business costs · Tom Tugendhat’s register of interests and votes · Sources